Swallows are a no-show

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. -- Mike Gastelum rang the bells at Mission San Juan Capistrano on Saturday to welcome the mission's swallows back from their annual 7,000-mile pilgrimage.

But with no birds in sight, he and the tourists who had come for the event had to settle for seeing a man in a swallow costume.

Legend has it that the sparrow-sized, white-breasted swallows return to the mission every year from their winter home in Goya, Argentina, around the time of the feast of St. Joseph, celebrated March 19.